Graphic: Help what do you think? Necroscopy Attempt

[jennaveewhit]

I had to put one of my hens out of her misery last night. She was and olive egger, just over one year old. The back story is she lost her feathers last December and quit laying. She never laid another egg since that time. She was laying regularly before that so I know she was capable. She ate and acted normally so I waited to see what would happen as she didn’t seem to be in pain. Recently she lost the blood from her comb as it was orange and not red anymore. She began losing her feathers again last month. She seemed to want to sleep very early, was very thin, and was generally separate from her flock. Here are the pictures. I was hoping someone could tell me if I fed her to much, if she had a reproductive issue, or some other issue . My pictures are bad because I didn’t know what I was doing. I did my best so please be gentle with me. This is quite upsetting and I want to do right by the rest of my flock if I’m doing something wrong. Thank you in advance.

 

[Brooks_]

@U_Stormcrow, I know you get inside views often.

 

[Kiki]

I'd look at what you are feeding quickly.
That is a lot of fat.

 

[Brooks_]

That is a lot of fat.

Colored by corn?

 

[Jasfarm]

Thank you for sharing this. So helpful to others of us that are learning as well

 

[jennaveewhit]

Colored by corn?

No corn in the feed. No soy. Grumbly Farms food.

 

[FunClucks]

I'm so sorry you lost your chicken!

It's hard when your beloved pet dies and nothing you do seems to help.

I'm not an expert, but I've processed a number of chickens for eating, so I'm somewhat familiar with how they should look inside when they're healthy.

Her heart looks fine. There's a fair bit of fat, but this could be normal and just be because she was a female - others will need to weigh in here. Her liver looks a bit larger than I'd expect, but not by too much. There appears to be some solidified blood in her abdominal cavity, which could be due to the way she was culled, or could be indicative of liver disease. Something is up with her egg making organs - she was obviously not laying and hadn't been for a while, and I'm not sure what exactly I'm looking at with her egg making organs, but they're not right. Maybe cancer?

I think the odds are good she died of reproductive disease/cancer. But again, I'd love to hear what others with more experience think.

 

[jennaveewhit]

I'm so sorry you lost your chicken!

It's hard when your beloved pet dies and nothing you do seems to help.

I'm not an expert, but I've processed a number of chickens for eating, so I'm somewhat familiar with how they should look inside when they're healthy.

Her heart looks fine. There's a fair bit of fat, but this could be normal and just be because she was a female - others will need to weigh in here. Her liver looks a bit larger than I'd expect, but not by too much. There appears to be some solidified blood in her abdominal cavity, which could be due to the way she was culled, or could be indicative of liver disease. Something is up with her egg making organs - she was obviously not laying and hadn't been for a while, and I'm not sure what exactly I'm looking at with her egg making organs, but they're not right. Maybe cancer?

I think the odds are good she died of reproductive disease/cancer. But again, I'd love to hear what others with more experience think.

Thank you for your post. I really appreciate it. I would have done more for her if I could have. She was a sweetheart. It was a difficult situation and I could do anything for the rest of the flock to avoid I will. On a good note she was the only one with this problem so that’s a plus.

 

[FunClucks]

No corn in the feed. No soy. Grumbly Farms food. View attachment 3580937

Can you post the full ingredient list? Soldier fly grubs as first ingredient worries me. I would be concerned that there's too much fat in the diet. Also, what do the whole grains consist of? Amid other questions. Looking for % protein, and % other ingredients.

 

[Brooks_]

No corn in the feed. No soy. Grumbly Farms food. View attachment 3580937

Marigold is likely the color then. Could you post the nutritional analysis?